Subtitled "The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush," Ambling Into History probably won't be universally loved by George W. Bush's biggest fans. On the other hand, despite its title, it probably won't be loved by Bush-bashers, either. The book is too even-handed for partisans of either stripe to self-righteously embrace. But for those of us with a sense of humor, a sense of history and the Presidency, and an interest in how the news media works, it's a wickedly funny and insightful read.
Frank Bruni, the author, spent about a year...
...following the Bush campaign in 1999 and 2000 for the New York Times, and a year in the White House press corps afterward. He also spent some time with the Gore campaign. His book is largely a collection of anecdotes about that two-year period, mixed with personal observations about Bush, Gore, the press, and the life of reporters covering the campaigns.
It's clear from the start that Bruni is, in many ways, a typical New York Times reporter: highly literate and intelligent, with a sharply focused eye for detail and lucid prose. He's also typical in that he sometimes evinces left-wing spasms that mirror his paper's editorial page. For example, Bush is a great "unilateralist" because of his lack of support for two treaties (one of which his predecessor never supported), his tax cuts primarily benefit "the rich," and so on.
On the other hand, Bruni lacks the pretensions and self-seriousness of many political observers, and his merciless wit is non-partisan. The sections on Gore and McCain are as cutting as anything he says about Bush, and his sharpest barbs are often reserved for reporters and political flacks. "Trust me," he writes of his first night covering the Presidential debates, "you haven't lived until you're four hundred words into [writing] a thousand-word story that's due in ten minutes, your editor won't stop calling with helpful suggestions that unhelpfully consume the dwindling seconds, you see Andrew Cuomo charging toward you and you realize that you have neither a fly swatter, a polo mallet nor a crucifix at hand."
Bruni spends about as much time discussing the press as he does the candidates. He strives to be scrupulously fair, noting shoddy work done by both himself and other journalists. For example, he tells of how when he was first assigned to Bush, he wrote that Bush was "not much of a reader," an assertion he admits that he pretty much just made up as a cheap shot. Unfortunately, over the next year, Bruni witnessed Bush reading a constant variety of fiction and non-fiction between campaign stops. He and Bush even traded books a couple of times, and during quiet off-the-record sessions they would sometimes discuss books they'd both read. The truth was almost the exact opposite of the impression that Bruni created out of thin air, and that reporters have been repeating ever since.
Interpersed in all this is biographical material on Bush and wife Laura, brief interviews with family members, riveting descriptions of what election night was like, and what he saw of Bush before, during, and after 9/11. Bruni ends his book on a somewhat ambivalent but still positive note, seemingly having come to the reluctant conclusion that Bush is an unusual but very sincere and surprisingly (to him) competent President.
Most interesting are Bruni's observations of Bush the man, made more valuable by the fact that he's ambivalent about Bush. Bruni almost seems to find himself liking Bush in spite of himself. A picture of Bush emerges as a more substantive, decent, deeply sincere man than his critics would like to admit, yet still a sometimes awkward, sometimes uncertain man too. It's very much a warts-and-all picture of a man who is, in many ways, far more down-to-earth and authentic than quite a few past occupants of the White House.
Hard-core party-liners of any persuasion probably won't be in love with Ambling Through History, but political and/or history junkies with a genuine interest in the Presidency will probably find this book as fascinating and enjoyable as I did.
The often-brilliant gay journalist Andrew Sullivan (although I cringe at constantly having to identify him that way, it seems almost required these days) has an even better review of this book -- check it out here. The rest of his site's worth reading too--he's one of the very best online.
FRANK BRUNI appears to be yet another jew-worshiping goy-toy shitting on the Catholic Church. The jews are the most rancid things on the planet and they have been justly despised for over 3000 years. Bruni is just hired help. Let's see him write about just a few of the pedophile rabbis crawling around Brooklyn, or the thieving rabbis, or the empty synagogues, or the fact that the Vatican bank scandal of the eighties (as well as every other bank scandal and massive stock market fraud) was perpetrated by a kike(s).
tremendous site